Game faces: Lost in the madness

There’s a reason they call the NCAA men’s basketball playoffs March Madness. I was lucky enough to experience a little bit of this chaos during a recent college visit to New Orleans in the midst of Final Four weekend. Although I wasn’t able to score tickets, I still got to be a part of basketball fever around the city. All of the restaurants and shops were filled with fans decked out in their teams’ colors.

As Louisville and Ohio State were knocked out of the tournament, their fans seemed to leave the streets until only Kansas’ and Kentucky’s fans were left. New Orleans was filled with a sea of blue and waves of spirit.

Although I had to miss out on the excitement of the semifinals and championship, I can only imagine how crazy the fans were. If I ever have the opportunity to be a bigger part of the Final Four, I definitely will and would recommend it to anyone.

As the top-ranked team in the state and one of the top teams in the nation, any game involving Naperville North is sure to be a good one. They’ve been dominating so far with a 7-0 start before press time on Tuesday. Waubonsie Valley, which started 5-2-1, is a young team that might be able to put up a good fight. They were able to take down No. 5 Neuqua Valley earlier this season in a close 1-0 game.

Other games to watch

Schaumburg at Conant, 6:30 p.m. Monday

Naperville Central at Neuqua Valley, 4 p.m. Saturday

Sport songs

If you can’t beat an NFL ruling, why not rap about it? While I was down in New Orleans, I noticed “Free Sean Payton” T-shirts everywhere. Saints fans were protesting the coach’s year-long suspension over the team’s bounty program. As if T-shirts weren’t enough, they have a rally song that “embodies the frustration of the fans,” according to the YouTube video’s caption. Watch it atbit.ly/seanpayton.

Winners and Losers

Winners: In girls soccer, No. 10 Metea Valley took down No. 3 Neuqua Valley 4-3 on April 4. Although Neuqua kept pulling away, the Mustangs followed with their own goals. The young program truly proved they can compete with the best.

Losers: As if his fizzled football career wasn’t bad enough, ex-NFL QB Ryan Leaf was arrested twice recently on charges of burglary, theft and possession of prescription drugs.

Benchwarmers

Pictures have been popping up online of people “reverse photo-bombing” Eli Manning as he works out at Ole Miss. How would you like to say that you worked out with Eli Manning? … During a recent press conference where Tim Tebow was announced as the Jets’ backup quarterback, Tebow used the word “excited” around 50 times. A mural of the Tebow himself along with the word excited has appeared to spread his excitement. … First the Marlins installed their massive home run tower, then they revealed their neon uniforms and now they recently opened their on-site swimming pool. What ridiculous attention-seeker is next for the Marlins?